Roulette is a well known casino game played using a rotatable Roulette wheel with pockets or canoes around its periphery. Each canoe is separated from an adjacent canoe by a separator or fret. The canoes are marked with numbers 1-36 with an additional canoe for 0 in the European version and two additional canoes for 0 and 00 in the American version. Each of the numbers 1-36 are colored either red or black such that eighteen of the numbers are red and eighteen are black. The canoe marked 0 is colored green as, in the American version, is the canoe marked 00. Adjacent canoes are given non-consecutive numbers, no two adjacent canoes have matching colors, and, in the American version, 0 and 00 are diametrically opposite positions on the wheel.
The wheel is set inside of a bowl-shaped enclosure in which the Roulette ball can be launched, spinning about the bowl, until friction and gravity force it to slow and descend to the wheel. The enclosure may have tracks and/or projections to control and randomize motion of the Roulette ball until it comes to rest in one of the canoes.
The wheel assembly is mounted on a gaming table covered with a layout having areas marked with numbers corresponding to the numbers on the Roulette wheel. By positioning chips inside numbered wagering areas or along borders or intersections of numbered wagering areas, players may place wagers on one or more numbers. The layout also includes proposition wagers on subsets of numbers such as odd, even, black, red, high, low, dozen (1st 12, 2nd 12, or 3rd 12), and column.
To play the game, players place chips on one or more wagering areas and a ball is launched into the Roulette enclosure. The ball eventually comes to rest in a canoe of the Roulette wheel and determines the winning number and proposition wagers. Wagers on a winning number, group of numbers, or proposition are rewarded based on the nature of the wager. Winning wagers on a single number are typically rewarded at 35 to 1; winning wagers on two numbers are typically rewarded at 17 to 1; winning wagers on three numbers are typically rewarded at 11 to 1; willing wagers on four numbers are typically rewarded at 8 to 1; winning wagers on five numbers are typically rewarded at 6 to 1; winning wagers on six numbers are typically rewarded at 5 to 1; winning dozen and column wagers are typically rewarded at 2 to 1; and winning odd, even, black, red, high, and low wagers are typically rewarded at 1 to 1 or even money.
The traditional game of Roulette does have some drawbacks. The highest payout is typically set to 35 to 1. Players want the thrill of higher potential rewards. Slot machines and video poker have their highest payouts at no less than several hundred to one, and in some of the progressive slots games, these odds may be millions to one. While games such as blackjack and craps may have the same drawback, their play is much faster, and so a player is able to wager more times per hour, and generate more excitement.
On the other extreme, players may see the likelihood of hitting a single number as being a long-shot, and want the option of a “second chance” bet, so that if they lose the first chance, they still may come out ahead. This is analogous to betting a horse to place or show, where a player has more than one opportunity to win. Players often see such betting mechanisms as improving their odds, and allow them to play more conservatively, and often to play for a longer period of time.
It can be seen, therefore, that there is a need in the art for a Roulette game that affords players both higher payout odds and additional opportunities to win. However, with the long history of the game of Roulette, it would he inadvisable to change the game in a way which lost the traditional structure of the wheel and the essence of the wagering layouts. Ideally, the Roulette wheel itself would not be changed, and the player would be able to continue to make the same wagers as were available in the traditional embodiment, but have exciting new options available as well.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,869, issued to Matthews, discloses a multi-ball option for Roulette in which the wheel permits the simultaneous play of multiple balls, of distinct colors, and in which players may wager on the result of a single selected ball, the result of all of the balls, or the result of all-but-one of the balls. Thus, in the four-ball embodiment, a play may wager that the “green” ball will land on the number 7, that all four will land on the number 7, or that three of the four will land on the number 7.
However, the game of Mathews has drawbacks. First, the multiple balls used are distinct, but not sequential. This limits the betting options available.
Second, the player is limited to betting on a single result, and cannot, for example, bet that the four balls will land on 7, 11, 19, and 70, perhaps the favorite bet for a player born on Jul. 11, 1970.
Third, except in the two-ball version, the player may not bet that one of the balls will get a specific result without picking which ball, or making the same wager individually on each of the balls.
Fourth, the player may not combine bets of different types, for example, betting that the first result will be even, the second will be a 7, and the third will be red.
Fifth, as the same result may occur on multiple balls, other than the “all-but-one” wager, the Mathews gambling enhancement is logically indistinguishable from simply letting a wager “ride” through several spins of the Roulette wheel.
Thus, it can be seen that there is a need in the art for a modified version of Roulette that simultaneously provides for larger payouts from a single game, gives the less aggressive player the chance to “hedge his bets,” and yet does not drastically change the look and feel of the game.